Removably securing small contactless payment card to electronic device

ABSTRACT

A holder for a contactless payment card includes a substrate that has a first side and a second side that is opposite to the first side. There is an adhesive material on the first side of the substrate. The holder also includes at least one sheet that is joined to the substrate to form a pouch. The second side of the substrate faces the pouch. The pouch is shaped and sized to securely hold a contactless integrated circuit identification card that has no more than half of a planar extent defined for the standard ID-1 identification card.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/829,165 entitled “REMOVABLY SECURING SMALL CONTACTLESSPAYMENT CARD TO ELECTRONIC DEVICE” and filed Jul. 27, 2007. The entirecontents of that application are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

It is well known to provide contactless payment cards in the standardID-1 geometry (substantially 85.6×54 mm in planar extent). Such cardsresemble conventional credit and debit cards in size and shape, andallow account holders to access debit or credit card accounts to pay fortransactions by wireless communication between the contactless paymentcards and proximity readers included in point of sale (POS) terminals.

Because of the wireless communication capability of these cards, it isfeasible to enhance their convenience by shrinking their size, toperhaps one-half or one-third or less of the planar extent of thestandard ID-1 geometry. In this reduced size, a contactless payment cardmay be carried as a fob on a key ring.

According to certain prior art proposals, it has been suggested thatsmall contactless payment cards be integrated with handheld electronicdevices such as mobile telephones. In one such proposal, the housing ofa mobile telephone is configured to include one or more slots shaped andsized to receive small contactless payment cards. However, this approachrequires coordination and cooperation with manufacturers of mobiletelephones and/or with mobile telephone network operators. Also, if aslot or slots of a certain size are included in the mobile telephonehousing, small contactless cards of other sizes would not be compatiblewith the mobile telephone. Still further, there may be significant addedcost in modifying the mobile telephone design to accommodate contactlesscard slots.

In another prior art proposal, an adhesive layer is added to the rear ofa contactless payment card, which may take the form of a somewhatflexible self-adhesive label. The card/label can then be adhered to therear surface of a mobile telephone. One disadvantage with this approachmay arise if the account holder wishes to replace the mobile telephoneafter attaching the payment card/label thereto. It may be difficult toremove the card/label from the mobile telephone housing, and may beimpossible to attach the card/label to the cardholder's new mobiletelephone. Also, if the account holder desires to change payment cards,the problem of removing the card/label from the mobile telephone housingagain arises, and such removal may leave an adhesive residue on themobile telephone housing. Still another disadvantage may arise if theaccount holder wishes to temporarily lend his/her mobile telephone toanother individual, but does not wish to entrust his/her payment card tothe individual.

Another possible disadvantage of the latter approach is that the layerof adhesive material on the card/label and/or the flexibility of thecard/label may make it difficult to perform personalization processingon the card/label with conventional personalization equipment.Consequently, the cost of personalizing the card/label may be increased.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features and advantages of some embodiments of the present invention,and the manner in which the same are accomplished, will become morereadily apparent upon consideration of the following detaileddescription of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, which illustrate preferred and exemplary embodiments and whichare not necessarily drawn to scale, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a cross-section, taken vertically, of aself-adhesive contactless card holder provided according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the contactless card holder of FIG.1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the card holder ofFIGS. 1 and 2 attached to a mobile telephone with a contactless paymentcard having been inserted into the card holder.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1 of another embodiment of the cardholder.

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of an example of the contactless paymentcard seen in FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view of another embodiment of a card holder,while the card holder is in a condition to block operation of a paymentcard that has been inserted therein.

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6, showing the card holder of FIG. 6 ina condition to permit operation of the payment card that has beeninserted therein.

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 6, showing yet another embodiment of acard holder, while the card holder is in a condition to block operationof a payment card that has been inserted therein.

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8, showing the card holder of FIG. 8 ina condition to permit operation of the payment card that has beeninserted therein.

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 6, showing another embodiment of acard holder, while the card holder is in a condition to block operationof a payment card that has been inserted therein.

FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. 10, showing the card holder of FIG. 10in a condition to permit operation of the payment card that has beeninserted therein.

FIG. 12 is a view similar to FIG. 6, showing another embodiment of acard holder, while the card holder is in a condition to block operationof a payment card that has been inserted therein.

FIG. 13 is a view similar to FIG. 12, showing the card holder of FIG. 12in a condition to permit operation of the payment card that has beeninserted therein.

FIG. 14 is a view similar to FIG. 6, showing another embodiment of acard holder, while the card holder is in a condition to block operationof a payment card that has been inserted therein.

FIG. 15 is a view similar to FIG. 14, showing the card holder of FIG. 14in a condition to permit operation of the payment card that has beeninserted therein.

FIG. 16 is a view similar to FIG. 6, showing another embodiment of acard holder, while the card holder is in a condition to block operationof a payment card that has been inserted therein.

FIG. 17 is a view similar to FIG. 16, showing the card holder of FIG. 16in a condition to permit operation of the payment card that has beeninserted therein.

FIG. 18 is a schematic view, taken in vertical cross section, of anotherembodiment of a card holder (with payment card inserted therein), whilethe card holder is in a condition to block operation of the paymentcard.

FIG. 19 is a view similar to FIG. 18, showing the card holder of FIG. 18in a condition to permit operation of the payment card.

FIG. 20 is a flow chart that illustrates a process that may be performedaccording to aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 21 schematically illustrates some communication aspects of apurchase transaction performed using the mobile telephone/payment cardcombination of FIG. 3.

FIG. 22 schematically illustrates some physical aspects of the purchasetransaction of FIG. 21.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In general, and for the purpose of introducing concepts of embodimentsof the present invention, a holder for a small contactless payment cardis provided in the form of a self-adhesive label. The card holder may beattached to a handheld electronic device like a mobile telephone, andthen the contactless payment card may be inserted into the holder tosecure the contactless payment card to the electronic device. The cardmay be readily removed from the holder, to be similarly secured toanother device, and/or to be replaced by another card.

In some embodiments, the holder may include a sliding element that ismovable by the user between a position in which the sliding elementblocks operation of the payment card and a position in which the slidingelement permits operation of the payment card. A holder of this type mayprovide the same benefits that could be achieved by providing an on/offswitch on the card itself, but without the added expense and complexityof modifying the card design. In these or other embodiments, the holdermay also be configured to selectively hide or reveal information printedon the card.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a cross-section, taken vertically, of aself-adhesive contactless card holder 100 provided according to oneembodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view ofthe card holder 100.

Referring primarily to FIG. 1, the card holder 100 includes a substrate102, which may be formed of a suitable plastic material. The substrate102 may be said to have a top side 104 and a bottom side 106. The bottomside 106 is opposite the top side 104 in the sense that it faces in theopposite direction from the top side 104. A layer of adhesive material107 is formed on the bottom side 106 of the substrate 102.

The card holder 100 also includes a top sheet 108 that is joined to thesubstrate 102 to form a pouch 110 between the substrate 102 and the topsheet 108. The top sheet 108 may, but need not, be formed of the samematerial as the substrate 102. The pouch 110 may also be referred to asa “slot”. (The slot or pouch 110 is shown in FIG. 1 by presenting thetop sheet 108 and the substrate 102 as apart from each other; however,in practice the pouch or slot may collapse, in the absence of any cardbeing inserted in the pouch or slot, so that the top sheet 108 lies uponthe top side 104 of the substrate 102.) The top side 104 of thesubstrate 102 may be said to face the pouch 110.

The pouch 110 may have a shape and size such that the pouch 110 isconfigured to securely hold therein a small contactless payment card.For example, the contactless payment card may be substantially smaller,in planar extent, than the dimensions called for by the ID-1 standard.(For the purposes of this disclosure and the appended claims, the“planar extent” of an object refers to the area occupied by the objectin the main plane of the object. Thus the “planar extent” of an ID-1card is substantially 85.6×54 mm.) For example, the planar extent of thecard to be inserted in the pouch 110 may be one-half, one-third,one-quarter or less, or another fraction or percentage, of the planarextent of an ID-1 card. For example, the card to be inserted in thepouch 110 may have a length that is substantially equal to the width(˜54mm) of an ID-1 card, while having a width that is perhaps one-thirdto one-fifth the length (˜86 mm) of the ID-1 card.

(Notwithstanding the manner in which the card holder 100 is illustratedin FIG. 1, the substrate 102 need not be thicker than the top sheet108.)

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the card holder 100attached to a mobile telephone 112 with a contactless payment card 114having been inserted into the card holder 100. To simplify the drawing,much of the detail has been omitted from the depiction in FIG. 3 of thecard holder 100 and of the mobile telephone 112. The card holder 100 isshown in FIG. 3 as being attached to a rear surface 116 of the mobiletelephone 112 (i.e., to the rear surface of the housing—not separatelyindicated—of the mobile telephone 112). The front surface 118 of themobile telephone 112 is also indicated, and may be the location oftypical mobile telephone features (not separately shown) such as akeypad, display screen, microphone, speaker, etc. The card holder 100may be attached to the mobile telephone 112 by the above-mentionedadhesive layer (not separately shown in FIG. 3) of the card holder 100.

The mobile telephone 112 contains a battery (not separately shown) orother components that may tend to short out the antenna (not separatelyshown in FIG. 3) of the payment card 114 and thus may tend to interferewith the operation of the payment card 114. FIG. 4 is a view similar toFIG. 1 of an alternative embodiment (indicated generally by referencenumeral 100-1 in FIG. 4) of the card holder that is intended to addressthe potential problem referred to in the previous sentence. The cardholder 100-1 of FIG. 4 differs from the card holder 100 of FIGS. 1 and 2in that the substrate 102-1 includes a layer 402 of ferromagneticmaterial (e.g., soft iron) that tends to shield the payment card (notshown in FIG. 4) from the interfering effects of components of themobile telephone.

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of an example of the contactless paymentcard 114 shown in FIG. 3. As seen from FIG. 5, the payment card 114includes a card-shaped body 502 (e.g., laminated from layers of plastic)in which an RFID (radio frequency identification) chip 504 (IC orintegrated circuit) is embedded. An antenna 506 is embedded in thecard-shaped body 502 and runs along the periphery of the card-shapedbody 502. The antenna 506 is coupled to the RFID chip 504 to allow theRFID chip 504 to receive interrogation signals from proximity readerdevices included in POS terminals. The antenna 506 also allows the RFIDchip to transmit payment card account information and other informationto the POS terminals. The card 114 may be constructed and may operate inaccordance with conventional practices. For purposes of illustration,the RFID chip and antenna are shown in FIG. 5, but in practical examplesof the card 114 the card body may be formed largely of opaque plasticand the RFID chip and antenna may be embedded in the opaque plastic soas not to be visible. Instead, the card 114 may display brandinginformation such as one or more logos of the issuing bank and of apayment card association, and also may display information, such asaccount number and account holder's name, that is specific to theparticular card.

Reference was made above to the process of “personalizing” the paymentcard. As is familiar to those who are skilled in the art, duringpersonalization, card specific information is wirelessly written intothe card's RFID chip, and may also be printed on the card. In accordancewith prior proposals, the process of personalization may be simplifiedby initially providing the card blank as part of an ID-1 sized assemblythat includes scoring or the like to define the card within the ID-1sized footprint of the assembly. The ID-1 sized assembly may then beprocessed for purposes of personalizing the card blank using the samestandard types of personalization equipment conventionally used topersonalize ID-1 sized contactless payment cards.

According to certain prior proposals (e.g., in U.S. Pat. No. 6,863,220),a contactless payment card may include a user-actuatable switch to turnthe card on and off. The switch may normally be in an “off” condition,but may be actuated by the user to an “on” condition at the time ofpresenting the card for reading at a POS terminal. Such a switch mayhelp to prevent certain attacks on the security of the account numberstored in the card, by preventing the card from responding tounauthorized interrogation signals. However, it would be preferable notto incur the expense of incorporating a user-actuatable switch inpayment cards.

In accordance with aspects of the present invention, some embodiments ofthe card holder may include a shield that can be selectively positionedeither to permit interrogation signals to reach the payment card, or toshield the card from interrogation signals. FIG. 6 is a schematic planview of one such embodiment of a card holder (indicated generally byreference numeral 100-2 in FIG. 6). FIG. 6 shows the card holder 100-2in a condition in which the card is shielded from interrogation signals.The card itself is not explicitly shown, except by a dashed-line roundedrectangle (reference numeral 602), which represents the locus of thecard antenna. The card holder 100-2 is also represented schematically,with the pouch for receiving the card, and the structure (e.g.,substrate and top sheet) that forms the pouch, not explicitly shown inthe drawing. Also, the adhesive layer of the card holder is not shown.

Reference numeral 604 indicates a shield member, formed as a hollowrectangle that is proportioned to entirely cover the card antenna 602when the shield member is suitably positioned, as depicted in FIG. 6.The holder 100-2 includes the shield member 604, as well as paralleltracks or guides schematically represented at 606, 608. The shieldmember 604 is mounted on the tracks 606, 608 so as to allow the shieldmember 604 to be slidingly moved by the user from the position shown inFIG. 6 to the position shown in FIG. 7. (The tracks may be suitablyformed in or on or supported by a holder substrate or top sheet such asthose discussed above. Thus the shield member 604 is movable relative toother structures (not shown) of the holder 100-2, such as a substrateand top sheet that form a pouch to hold the payment card in the locusindicated at 602 in both drawings.) In the particular embodiment shownin FIGS. 6 and 7, the sliding movement of the shield member is parallelto the plane of the payment card and is transverse (in this case,perpendicular) to the longitudinal axis of the payment card.

When the shield member 604 is in the position shown in FIG. 6, it isdirectly above the card antenna 602 and serves to block signals frombeing received by and/or transmitted from the card antenna 602. Theshield member 604 may be made of any suitable material, such as asuitable metal foil. When the shield member 604 is in the position shownin FIG. 7, it is offset away from the locus of the card antenna 602, andallows the card antenna to receive and/or transmit signals. The shieldmember 604 may be directly slidable by being pushed by the user's fingeror thumb, or alternatively may be connected to a suitable button, lever,and/or linkage or mechanism (none shown) to allow the user to indirectlyactuate sliding motion of the shield member 604.

With a shield like the shield member 604 (or other shield embodimentsdescribed below) provided as part of a card holder, the user may movethe shield to effectively enable and disable operation of the paymentcard within the card holder, thereby obtaining essentially the samefunctionality as would be provided by a user-actuatable on/off switchincluded in the card itself.

In some embodiments, the card holder top sheet referred to above may beformed of clear plastic, to allow the user to readily read card-specificinformation, such as the number of the account accessed via the card,from the card while it is inside the card holder. However, for securityreasons, it may be desirable that the card holder normally conceal theaccount number and/or other information on the card while the card isinside the card holder. Accordingly, it may be desirable that the shieldmember be opaque so that when the shield member is in the position toblock the payment card from receiving/transmitting signals, the shieldmember also conceals any symbols printed on the payment card. Moreover,when the shield member is in the position to permit the payment card toreceive/transmit signals, symbols printed on the payment card may bevisible. Such an arrangement is schematically illustrated in FIGS. 6 and7. In FIG. 7, with the shield member 604 in the latter position, symbolsschematically indicated at 702 (e.g., branding logos, account number,account holder name) are visible. (It is to be understood that thesesymbols 702 are printed on the payment card, which is not otherwisedepicted in FIG. 7, apart from the antenna 602.) In FIG. 6, with theshield member 604 in the former position, the symbols are concealed.(For example, the shield member 604 may have an inner panel 610 that isformed of opaque plastic. Alternatively, the shield member may beuniformly constructed of, e.g., a suitable metal foil to both blocksignal receipt/transmission and to conceal symbols printed on thepayment card.)

FIGS. 8 and 9 schematically illustrate another embodiment of a cardholder which includes a capability for selectively disabling/enabling apayment card contained within the card holder. As in FIGS. 6 and 7, thedashed-line rounded rectangle 602 indicates the locus of an antennawhich is part of a payment card contained within a pouch (not shown)which is part of a card holder according to this embodiment. Also as inFIGS. 6 and 7, the hollow rectangle 604 is representative of a shieldmember which is included in the card holder for selectively blocking ornot blocking receipt/transmission of signals via the antenna 604. (Thecard holder is not indicated in FIGS. 8 and 9 apart from the shieldmember 604.) In FIG. 8, the shield member is shown in a position toblock receipt/transmission of signals via the antenna 602 of the paymentcard (which is not depicted apart in FIGS. 8 and 9 from the antenna602). In FIG. 9, the shield member 604 is shown in a position in whichthe shield member substantially unmasks the antenna 602 to permitsignals to be received/transmitted by the antenna 602. The shield member604 is moved (e.g., by being pushed by the user's finger/thumb) from theposition of FIG. 8 to the position of FIG. 9 in a diagonal directionindicated by arrows 902. The shield member 604 may be moved by slidingalong tracks which are not shown but are aligned with the diagonaldirection indicated by the arrows 902. The diagonal movement of theshield member 604 causes the shield member 604 to be displaced bothlaterally and longitudinally relative to its position shown in FIG. 8.

FIGS. 10 and 11 schematically illustrate yet another embodiment of acard holder which includes a capability for selectivelydisabling/enabling a payment card contained within the card holder. Asbefore, the rounded rectangle 602 indicates the locus of the paymentcard antenna, for a payment card contained within the pouch (not shown)of a card holder provided according to this embodiment. The shieldprovided in this embodiment is generally indicated by reference numeral604-1. In this embodiment, the shield 604-1 is formed of four sidemembers 1002-1, 1002-2, 1002-3 and 1002-4. In the shield configurationshown in FIG. 10, the side members 1002-1 through 1002-4 are positionedto form the four sides of a hollow rectangle. Each of the side members1002-1 through 1002-4 is pivotally joined at its ends to two other ofthe side members 1002-1 through 1002-4. The shield 604-1 is thuspivotally constructed, and further is mounted on the card holder (notseparately shown) for movement between its rectangular configurationshown in FIG. 10 and a collapsed parallelogram configuration shown inFIG. 11. In the configuration of FIG. 11, the shield 604-1 substantiallyunmasks the antenna 602 to permit signals to be received/transmitted bythe antenna 602. The shield 604-1 may be moved between itsconfigurations shown respectively in FIGS. 10 and 11 by being pusheddirectly via the user's thumb or finger, or by being pushed indirectlyvia a suitable button or lever (not shown) that is actuated by theuser's thumb or finger. When in the configuration shown in FIG. 10, theshield 604-1 blocks signals from being received/transmitted by theantenna 602.

FIGS. 12 and 13 schematically illustrate another embodiment of a cardholder which includes a capability for selectively disabling/enabling apayment card contained within the card holder. As before, thedashed-line rounded rectangle 602 indicates the locus of an antennawhich is part of a payment card contained within a pouch (not shown)which is part of a card holder according to this embodiment. The shieldprovided in this embodiment is generally indicated by reference numeral604-2. In this embodiment the shield 604-2 is formed of two U-shapedmembers 1202-1 and 1202-2 which are arranged, in the configuration shownin FIG. 12, with their open ends meeting to form the same hollowrectangle configuration seen in previously described embodiments. Themembers 1202-1, 1202-2 may be mounted on the card holder (not separatelyshown) for movement between the configuration shown in FIG. 12 and theconfiguration shown in FIG. 13. In the configuration shown in FIG. 13,the two members 1202-1 and 1202-2 have been moved toward each other toas to partially overlap and to substantially unmask the antenna 602 topermit signals to be received/transmitted by the antenna. As before, themovement of the members 1202-1 and 1202-2 may be accomplished by directpushing contact from the user's thumb/finger, or indirectly by the useractuating a suitable button/lever/linkage/mechanism (not shown). When inthe configuration shown in FIG. 12, the shield 604-2 blocks signals frombeing received/transmitted by the antenna 602.

FIGS. 14 and 15 schematically illustrate another embodiment of a cardholder which includes a capability for selectively disabling/enabling apayment card contained within the card holder. Once more, thedashed-line rounded rectangle 602 indicates the locus of an antennawhich is part of a payment card contained within a pouch (not shown)which is part of a card holder according to this embodiment. The shieldprovided in this embodiment is generally indicated by reference numeral604-3. In somewhat similar fashion to the embodiment of FIGS. 12 and 13,the shield in the embodiment of FIGS. 14 and 15 is formed of twoU-shaped members 1402-1 and 1402-2. However, in this embodiment, thebase of the “U” is the long side of the hollow rectangle formed in theconfiguration of FIG. 14, rather than the base of the “U” being theshort side of the hollow rectangle, as seen in FIG. 12. Moreover, in theembodiment of FIGS. 14 and 15, only one of the two members 1402-1,1402-2 is moveable (say member 1402-1), while the other member isfixedly mounted (i.e., stationary). In particular, tracks (not shown) orthe like may be provided on the card holder to allow the member 1402-1to slide from the position shown in FIG. 14 to the position shown inFIG. 15. Once more, the member 1402-1 may be moved by being directlypushed by the user's finger or thumb, or may be moved by a suitablelinkage/mechanism (not shown) actuated by the user manipulating a buttonor lever (not shown). When the member is in the position shown in FIG.15, the antenna 602 is substantially unmasked, so that the shield 604-3allows the antenna 602 to receive/transmit signals. When the member isin the position shown in FIG. 14, the shield 604-3 blocks signals frombeing received/transmitted by the antenna 602.

FIGS. 16 and 17 schematically illustrate another embodiment of a cardholder which includes a capability for selectively disabling/enabling apayment card contained within the card holder. Again, the dashed-linerounded rectangle 602 indicates the locus of an antenna which is part ofa payment card contained within a pouch (not shown) which is part of acard holder according to this embodiment. The shield provided in thisembodiment is generally indicated by reference numeral 604-4. The shield604-4 is formed from two members 1602-1 and 1602-2. Each of the members1602-1, 1602-2 is configured as a series of blades arranged in a linearsequence transversely to the longitudinal axes of the blades in ahorizontal plane, with spaces in between the blades, such that thearrangement of the blades is akin to the rungs of a ladder. Each bladeis of the same width, which is equal to the distance between each twoadjacent blades. In the condition shown in FIG. 16, the blades of member1602-2 are positioned to cover the spaces between the blades of member1602-1, so that the two members 1602-1, 1602-2 together substantiallytotally mask the antenna 602. With the members 1602-1, 1602-2 positionedas shown in FIG. 16, the shield 604-4 formed by the members 1602-1,1602-2 blocks signals from being received/transmitted by the antenna602. One of the members, say 1602-2, may be mounted on the card holderso as to be movable in the longitudinal direction by a distance equal tothe width of the blades. A suitable pair of tracks (not shown) or thelike may be provided to guide a sliding motion of the member 1602-2.Such movement by the member 1602-2 leads to the condition shown in FIG.17, in which the spaces in the two members 1602-1, 1602-2 are aligned soas to substantially unmask the antenna 602. With this arrangement, aportion of the shield 604-4 (i.e., member 1602-2) is movable in adirection that coincides with the longitudinal axis of the payment card.With the members 1602-1, 1602-2 positioned relative to each other so asto form the condition shown in FIG. 17, the shield 604-4 permits signalsto be received/transmitted by the antenna 602. The member 1602-2 may bemoved by being directly pushed by the user's finger or thumb or by theuser actuating a suitable button/lever/linkage/mechanism (not shown).

FIGS. 18 and 19 schematically illustrate another embodiment of a cardholder which includes a capability for selectively disabling/enabling apayment card contained within the card holder. Unlike FIGS. 6-17, whichare shown in plan view, FIGS. 18 and 19 are taken in verticalcross-section. Reference numeral 114 in FIGS. 18 and 19 indicates apayment card contained within the pouch (not shown) of the card holder,which is not shown apart from a shield 604-5 and tracks (schematicallyindicated at 1802, 1804) provided on the card holder to accommodatesliding motion of the shield 604-5.

The shield 604-5 includes an upper portion 1806 for selectively maskingthe payment card 114 from above and a lower portion 1808 for selectivelymasking the payment card 114 from below. The upper and lower portions1806, 1808 of the shield 604-5 are joined together so that the portions1806, 1808 move together with the shield 604-5 as the shield 604-5slides along the tracks 1802, 1804.

When the shield 604-5 is in the position shown in FIG. 18, it blockssignals from being received/transmitted by the payment card 114. Whenthe shield 604-5 is in the position shown in FIG. 19, it no longer masksthe payment card 114, which is thus permitted to receive/transmitsignals. As before, the sliding motion of the shield 604-5 may bebrought about by the user directly pushing the shield 604-5 with his/herfinger or thumb, or by the user actuating a suitablebutton/lever/linkage/mechanism.

In other embodiments, the shield for selectively disabling/enabling thepayment card may be formed with different geometries, and/or may bemovable in other modes, besides those illustrated in the above exampleembodiments.

FIG. 20 is a flow chart that illustrates a process that may be performedaccording to aspects of the present invention.

At 2002 in FIG. 20, the user attaches a card holder to his/her mobiletelephone. The card holder may be in accordance with any one or more ofthe embodiments described hereinabove. From previous discussion, it willbe appreciated that the card holder may be attached to the mobiletelephone by an adhesive layer that is provided on a surface of the cardholder (e.g., on the lower surface of the card holder substrate referredto above).

At 2004, the user inserts a contactless payment card, such as thepayment card 114 described above, into the pouch of the card holder thathas been attached to the mobile telephone. In this way the payment cardis removably secured to the mobile telephone, bringing about thecondition schematically illustrated in FIG. 3.

At 2006, the user takes the mobile telephone, with card holder andpayment card attached, with him/her while he/she visits at retail store.At 2008, the user makes a selection of merchandise at the store andpresents the merchandise for purchase at a POS terminal in the store.After the sales clerk has entered the items to be purchased into the POSterminal (e.g., by scanning barcodes on the merchandise), the usereffects payment (2010 in FIG. 20) for the transaction by tapping themobile telephone (e.g., with the payment card side down) on theproximity reader component of the POS terminal. With the payment cardthus or otherwise brought into proximity with the reader, wirelesscommunications are exchanged between the payment card and the reader. Inthis manner, the user's payment card account number is communicated tothe POS terminal and used to authorize and settle the purchasetransaction.

FIG. 21 schematically illustrates some communication aspects of thepurchase transaction. The POS terminal is represented at block 2102, andblock 2104 represents the proximity reader interfaced to or incorporatedin the POS terminal 2102. The payment card is indicated at 114, and thewireless communication between the payment card 114 and the proximityreader 2104 is indicated at 2106.

FIG. 22 schematically illustrates some physical aspects of the purchasetransaction. As in FIG. 21, the POS terminal 2102 and its associatedproximity reader 2104 are shown. The mobile phone 118 is also shown inproximity to the proximity reader 2104. It is assumed that the mobilephone includes the arrangement of FIG. 3, whereby the card holder (notshown in FIG. 22) is attached to the mobile phone and the payment card(not shown in FIG. 22) is secured to the mobile phone by having beeninserted into the pouch (not shown) of the card holder.

In embodiments described up to this point, the card holder has beenattached to a mobile phone. More generally, however, the card holder maybe attached to any type of electronic device, such as a handheld musicplayer (e.g., an iPod) or a personal digital assistant (PDA; including,e.g., devices sold under the name “BlackBerry”), a pager, etc.

The above-described embodiments have included those in which a paymentcard holder has a shield to selectively disable/enable a payment cardcontained within the card holder. However, not every card holder thathas such a shield need necessarily be attached or suitable forattachment to an electronic device. For example, in alternativeembodiments of the card holder, no adhesive is included, and the cardholder may be in the form of a key ring fob or in another form factor,but including a shield of the type referred to in the first sentence ofthis paragraph, such as the shields disclosed in various ones of theembodiments herein.

Up to this point, the invention has been discussed in terms ofcontactless payment cards. Alternatively, however, the principles of theinvention may be applied to other types of contactless identificationcards, such as those used to permit access to a transit system, or thoseused to identify participants in a customer loyalty system.

Although the present invention has been described in connection withspecific exemplary embodiments, it should be understood that variouschanges, substitutions, and alterations apparent to those skilled in theart can be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

1. A method, comprising: attaching a holder, by an adhesive layer formedon the holder, to an electronic device, wherein the holder includes ashield which includes (i) a pair of members and (ii) a contactlessintegrated circuit (IC) identification card within a pouch formed in theholder in order to secure the contactless IC identification card to theelectronic device; wherein the contactless IC identification cardincludes a card-shaped body, an antenna embedded in the card-shapedbody, and an IC embedded in the card-shaped body and coupled to theantenna; and moving the two members relative to each other between afirst configuration and a second configuration, the two members, when inthe first configuration, positioned to block signals from being receivedby and/or transmitted from the antenna of the contactless ICidentification card; the two members, when in the second configuration,positioned to partially overlap each other so as to unmask the antennaof the contactless IC identification card, thereby allowing the antennato receive and/or transmit signals, wherein a degree of overlap betweenthe two members is substantially greater in the second configuration ascompared to the first configuration.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinthe contactless IC identification card is a payment card.
 3. The methodof claim 2, further comprising: bringing the electronic device, with thecontactless IC identification card secured thereto, into proximity witha reader component of a point of sale terminal in order to pay for apurchase transaction.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the contactlessIC identification card has a planar extent that is no more than half ofa planar extent defined for a standard ID-1 identification card.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the holder substantially conceals all symbolsprinted on the contactless IC identification card.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the electronic device is a mobile telephone, a portablemusic player, or a portable digital assistant (PDA).
 7. A holder for acontactless integrated circuit (IC) identification card, the contactlessIC identification card including an antenna, the holder comprising:structure for defining a slot that is shaped and sized to receive thecontactless IC identification card; and a shield which includes a pairof members, the members supported on the structure so as to be movablerelative to each other between a first configuration and a secondconfiguration; the two members, when in the first configuration,positioned to block signals from being received by and/or transmittedfrom the antenna of a contactless IC identification card located in theslot; the two members, when in the second configuration, positioned topartially overlap each other so as to unmask the antenna of thecontactless IC identification card located in the slot, thereby allowingthe antenna to receive and/or transmit signals, wherein a degree ofoverlap between the two members is substantially greater in the secondconfiguration as compared to the first configuration.
 8. The holder ofclaim 7, wherein the structure has an adhesive formed on an outersurface of the structure for attaching the holder to an electronicdevice.
 9. An apparatus comprising: an electronic device that includes ahousing; a holder attached by adhesive to an outer surface of thehousing of the electronic device; and a contactless integrated circuit(IC) identification card inserted in the holder; wherein the contactlessIC identification card includes a card-shaped body, an antenna embeddedin the card-shaped body, and an IC embedded in the card-shaped body andcoupled to the antenna, and further wherein the holder includes a shieldwhich includes a pair of U-shaped members, the members movable relativeto each other between a first configuration and a second configuration;the two members, when in the first configuration, positioned to blocksignals from being received by and/or transmitted from the antenna ofthe contactless IC identification card; the two members, when in thesecond configuration, positioned to partially overlap each other so asto unmask the antenna of the contactless IC identification card, therebyallowing the antenna to receive and/or transmit signals, wherein adegree of overlap between the members is substantially greater in thesecond configuration as compared to the first configuration.
 10. Theapparatus of claim 9, wherein the electronic device is a mobiletelephone, a portable music player, or a portable digital assistant(PDA).
 11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the contactless ICidentification card is a payment card.
 12. The apparatus of claim 9,wherein the contactless IC identification card has a planar extent thatis no more than half of a planar extent defined for a standard ID-1identification card.
 13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the holdersubstantially conceals all symbols printed on the contactless ICidentification card.